News

Most pupils win first choice pre-school place

Almost nine out of every 10 children will attend their first choice pre-school this year, but hundreds remain unplaced.

More than 95 per cent of children secured a place in one of their preferred settings at the end of stage one of the admissions process.

A more-detailed breakdown obtained by the Irish News revealed 86 per cent were placed in their first preference setting. The next seven per cent were awarded places in their second preference school while two per cent will go to their third preference.

Many parents remain unhappy, however, with complaints that admissions criteria continue to disadvantage working parents. Where a pre-school has too many applications, priority must be given to families in receipt of income support or jobseekers' allowance. This has become a greater problem in recent years when applications have been spiralling.

A group of parents in Moy, Co Tyrone applied for places in three schools - Moy, Benburb and Collegeland - but were unsuccessful. They must now reapply to other schools with vacancies. Alternatives include Fivemiletown, which is more than 30 miles away.

It has also emerged that Moy playgroup is creating extra places due to overwhelming demand, but children who missed out at stage one will not receive priority over those who are already placed but instead want to switch.

Parent Ryan White said some schools received 44 applications for 26 places. His daughter Eva missed out.

"We do not expect to achieve our first preference, but out of three pre schools in the area, we would hope to have got into one of them. There seems to have been no forward planning for an increased demand in the area," he said.

"I contacted the board and they confirmed that some people who have already received a pre-school place are allowed to transfer to the afternoon session in the Moy. The standard criteria will be applied and they will get in ahead of Eva when they hadn't even applied for Moy in the first instance.

"The only reason the afternoon session is possible is because people like us applied and were turned down in big numbers. This seems even more unfair."

In west Belfast, Orla McCabe from Mount Eagles Drive Action Group said more than 100 children were baptised in the parish each year but there were just 50 nursery places. Children would, therefore, attend nurseries in Twinbrook, Poleglass or Dunmurry.

"However, building on two social housing developments has been ongoing in Poleglass and the overfill places there have been reduced leading to children being offered places far away," she said.

"Parents in Mount Eagles have come to us with complaints and also about the fact that working parents seem to bear the brunt of this issue. Mount Eagles has a 10 acre set aside site with outline planning permission for school/nursery and community recreational facilities for the last 13 years. This highlights the need for infrastructure to be built at the same time as housing. It makes no sense to have it in the plan unless that plan is going to be acted upon."